Banana Bread

Michael Eisenwasser

Print Recipe

Tender, lightly sweet banana bread made low-FODMAP with firm-yellow bananas and a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.

Prep 15 min

Cook 1 hr

Serves 10

Gluten-freeLactose-free

Ingredients

• 3 firm-yellow bananas (about 300 g total), mashed
• 1 3/4 cups (245 g) low-FODMAP gluten-free 1:1 flour blend
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (or 1/2 cup neutral oil)
• 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) lactose-free milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Optional: 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions

Prep the Pan and Oven

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter or line it with parchment, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour blend, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Mix the Batter

1. In a large bowl, mash the firm-yellow bananas with a fork until mostly smooth; a few small lumps add texture.
2. Whisk in the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until the mixture looks glossy.
3. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla, and whisk until combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix; the batter should be thick. Fold in nuts if using.

Bake

1. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Tap the pan on the counter once or twice to release any large air pockets.
2. Bake on the center rack for 55 to 65 minutes, until the top is deeply golden, the loaf springs back when pressed, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter).
3. If the top is browning too fast around the 40-minute mark, tent loosely with foil.
4. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then lift the loaf out and cool on the rack for at least another 30 minutes before slicing. Slicing warm gluten-free bread compresses the crumb.

Tips & Substitutions

• Firm-yellow, not spotted. This is the whole trick. Monash tests a firm-yellow banana (100 g) as low-FODMAP, but a ripe spotted banana is low-FODMAP only at a much smaller portion because fructans rise as the banana ripens. Pick bananas with pale-yellow skin and green tips. Three of them at ~100 g each spread across 10 slices puts each slice at ~30 g of banana, well under the serve limit.
• Sweetness trade-off. Firm bananas are less sweet than spotted ones, which is why this recipe uses brown and white sugar together. Don't swap in honey or agave; both are high-fructose.
• Nuts. Walnuts (30 g) and pecans (20 g) per serve are low-FODMAP. A 1/2 cup (60 g) across 10 slices works out to ~6 g per slice, well within the limit. Skip pistachios and cashews; both are high-FODMAP.
• Milk choices. Lactose-free cow's milk is the easiest swap. Unsweetened almond, macadamia, hemp, or rice milk also work at this volume. Skip oat milk unless the carton is Monash-certified at your serve size.
• Commercial flour blends. Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 (blue bag) and King Arthur Measure for Measure both work. Skip the red-bag Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose; it contains garbanzo and fava bean flour.
• Dairy-free. Swap the butter for 1/2 cup of neutral oil (avocado, light olive, or sunflower). The crumb comes out slightly more tender.
• Chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips are low-FODMAP at 30 g per serve. A 1/2 cup (85 g) folded in adds ~8 g per slice, still safely under.

Why This Works

Firm-yellow bananas keep the serve low. Bananas develop fructans as they ripen. A firm, pale-yellow banana at 100 g tests low; a spotted banana at 100 g tests high. Using three firm-yellow bananas across a 10-slice loaf means each slice carries about 30 g of banana, which is well inside the low-FODMAP serve.

Baking soda does the lifting. Banana and brown sugar contribute mild acidity, and oven heat finishes activating the baking soda — plenty of rise for a dense quick bread without needing baking powder on top of it.

Melted butter over creamed. Banana bread is a quick bread, not a cake. Melted butter pours into the bananas and sugar smoothly, keeping the crumb moist and the mixing minimal. That matters more with a gluten-free blend, which can turn gummy if overworked.

Lactose-free milk, small amount. Only 1/4 cup goes into the whole loaf, so even regular milk wouldn't be a huge FODMAP load per slice — but lactose-free keeps the recipe clean for anyone still in the elimination phase.

Storage

Cooled banana bread keeps at room temperature, wrapped tightly in foil or a beeswax wrap, for up to 3 days. Refrigerate for up to 1 week at 40°F (4°C) or below; the crumb firms up cold, so warm slices in a toaster oven or microwave for 15 seconds before eating. To freeze, slice the fully cooled loaf, stack with parchment between slices, and bag for up to 2 months. Toast individual slices straight from the freezer.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.